Bumpy Seas and Weak Knees
by onceuponajollyroger
Summary: Princess Emma isn't happy when her lifelong best friend and partner in crime, Killian, joins her father's navy and starts acting strangely towards her. [Lieutenant Duckling AU; oneshot]


"Princess Emma, Lieutenant Jones wishes to see you."

Emma rolled her eyes at the title as she nodded to her guard. She should be excited to see Killian; after all, he had been her best friend since childhood. Ever since he joined the navy though, he'd changed. He wasn't the same fun loving, adventurous, troublesome soul she'd grown to _love_, like.

Killian strolled into her room confidently, thanking the guard and bidding he leave. He cleared his throat nervously and addressed Emma. "Princess Emma, I've come to-"

"Princess? When have you ever called me 'princess' when we were alone?" Emma asked bitterly as she glared at him. Gods, he sounded so damn pretentious. They use to poke fun at overly formal officers and diplomats together, mocking their phony speeches and greetings. Now here he was, behaving just like them- he'd betrayed her.

Killian grimaced as he tugged nervously at his uniform. "I'm in uniform, and I must behave according to my position. I serve your father now," he said quietly, praying she would understand. He had sensed her anger right when he walked in the door.

"You never bothered with requesting an audience before. You use to sneak past the guards. What happened to climbing through the window? What happened to us sitting and talking for hours? What happened to us playing pranks on the guards and sneaking off into the forest to explore?" she asked, raising her voice as she went through the list. This was the first time they had been alone together in months, and he wasted it on distant formalities.

Killian stared down at his feet for a minute, collecting his thoughts and his courage, before meeting her burning gaze. "Emma, we grew up. I'm an officer in the navy now. I have to behave properly, especially around a princess."

Emma's mouth fell open at that. Her heart was pounding so quickly that she thought it would burst from her chest. She looked down quickly and blinked her eyes, holding back the threat of tears. All her life, people had been awkward and stiff around her- overly formal and polite around the kingdom's beloved princess. Killian was the one person from the start who always treated her as an equal, as a _friend_. She was always _Emma_ to him. "So that's what I am now- a princess. Not Emma, not your friend, just a princess."

"Emma-" Killian said softly as he stepped forward to reach for her. He stopped in place as she coldly responded.

"Do not address me so informally. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have matters to attend to, _lieutenant_," she spat bitterly, turning away from him so he wouldn't see the tears now falling from her face.

Killian went to leave, but stopped and looked back when he reached the door. "I set sail tomorrow. I won't be back for a few months. Take care, Princess Emma."

As he passed through the door, Emma could have sworn she'd heard him whisper _I'll miss you_, but surely she hadn't. That was just her foolish mind and her naïve heart playing tricks on her.

* * *

><p>Over the course of the following three months, Emma received five letters from Killian. She'd established her own ritual of sorts when receiving a letter. Each time she would retire to her room, eager to escape the prying eyes of her concerned parents, before reading the letter. She would read the words he'd carefully written in his elegant penmanship through her tear-filled eyes. Then, Emma would ball the letter up in anger and chuck it into the lavish fireplace in her bedchamber. If he had truly cared for her, he wouldn't have pushed her away and treated her so impersonally. He wouldn't have joined the navy. If he loved her, he'd be by her side.<p>

After the fifth letter went unanswered, Killian must have taken her hint. Emma was not bothered, _graced_, with any more of his apologies. _Good_- she couldn't be bothered with his nonsense anyway.

Emma threw herself into her royal duties and lessons, eager to keep her mind off her friend. During meetings and important sessions, naval work was sometimes addressed, but Killian never personally came up in conversation. Occasionally though, Captain Liam Jones would be mentioned, causing Emma's heart to betray her and ache with longingly. Killian was sailing under Liam's command. Sometimes she would allow her mind to wander and imagine what adventures Killian must be having, but she quickly pushed those thoughts from her mind.

During one council meeting, a particularly boring one, Emma found herself fighting to stay awake. As her father was about to end the session and dismiss his advisors for the day, a courier burst through the doors and ran to address them.

"Sire, word has just come in from our naval units exploring the Southern Sea," he cried frantically as he attempted to catch his breath. He must have run straight from port. "Captain Jones' ship was caught in a storm. The vessel was lost, Highness," he said with remorse.

Emma fought to catch her breath as she clutched the arms of her chair. The entire room felt as if it were spinning. Captain Jones' ship was lost. Killian was onboard. Killian was-

"Were there any survivors?" he father asked immediately, panic in his voice. Captain Jones was one of her father's favorite officers, having served him loyally for many years. The loss of him and his crew would be devastating.

The crier nodded quickly as he reached into his pocket and retrieved a letter. "Thankfully another ship was in the area and found the wreckage after the storm passed. Miraculously, some survivors were retrieved from the water."

Emma leapt up from her chair, leaning forward to place her hands against the table for support. Her legs were shaky with panic. "Who? What of Lieutenant Jones?" she blurted in her panic. She had spoken out of turn and was behaving incredibly inappropriately, but she didn't care. She couldn't care. He had to be alive.

All eyes in the room shot to her as the courier handed her father the letter. "Ah, he and Captain Jones survived by floating atop some debris. The Jones brothers seem to be quite resourceful," he responded with an understanding nod.

Emma let out a sigh of relief before noticing the audience her outburst had garnered. Her face reddened with embarrassment as she quietly excused herself from the council chamber. She dashed back to her room as quickly as possible, apt to avoid her parents. They'd nag her with incessant questions about her actions and her feelings. She did not want to discuss her feelings about Killian Jones with her parents, not when she didn't even fully understand them herself.

When she had finally reached the safe confines of her bedroom, she threw herself onto her soft bed and cried out of relief, sadness, anger, confusion, _love_.

* * *

><p>Despite herself, Emma decided to finally write Killian back after news of the shipwreck. However, she dictated the letter to an aid and made sure the entire correspondence was formal- simply the kingdom's princess sending her well wishes to her subjects.<p>

A month passed by, though it felt like an eternity to Emma, as she waiting impatiently for Killian to return. She was lying on her bed, idly reading a book when her mother knocked gently and entered the room.

"Emma, dear, I just wanted to tell you that one of our ships has returned to dock," she started before continuing cautiously. "Survivors from Captain Jones' ship are onboard. We'll be throwing them a return feast and ball tomorrow," she stated as she carefully gauged her daughter's reaction.

Emma never bothered to look up from her book. Instead, she simply nodded and thanked her mother. Emma watched her mother quietly leave her room. Once she was positive that she was alone, Emma tossed her book to the ground and paced around the room in panic. Should she go see him? Should she wait for the feast? Perhaps he would call on her. If he did, she would surely turn him away the first time. She still hadn't forgiven him, after all.

After some though, Emma decided to ignore the situation all together. She spent her day going about her usual activities as if Killian didn't even exist. Though, a large part of her, one she would deny adamantly, hoped he would show up at any minute and sweep her off her feet.

To her dismay, that didn't happen. Emma sat in her room by her vanity and brushed her long, blonde locks as she stared at her sad reflection in the mirror. He had been back for an entire day and he'd not bothered to show up. Of course not, she chided herself. He's an officer now, and he has no interest in a princ-

"Miss me, Emma?" Killian's charming voice interrupted Emma's thoughts as she whipped around to see him ducking into her room through the open window.

Emma let out a surprised gasp. After months apart, her memory had not done him justice; she'd forgotten how handsome he was. The moonlight shone in through the window and lit up his face, causing his blue eyes to sparkle like the very sea he'd returned from. All she wanted to do was fall into his arms and kiss him until her lips were sore, but she couldn't, not yet at least. "You seem emboldened, lieutenant," she challenged.

"Thanks for the letter. I must admit, after five failed attempts, I wasn't expecting a response. I guess there's a silver lining to nearly drowning after all," he said in an overly confident tone. Emma knew him too well to buy his act. He was speaking to mask his pain.

"Don't joke about that," Emma said quietly, recalling what was definitely the worst day of her life.

"I thought you loved my jokes," he shot back with a challenging smirk.

She crossed her arms over her chest and raised an eyebrow at him. "Lieutenant, that behavior certainly doesn't fit the uniform," she said testily.

He was quiet for a moment before he finally dropped the overly cocky façade he always assumed when he was nervous. Killian looked up to stare at Emma with honest, apologetic eyes. "Aye, I've done some thinking on that, and I think as a member of his majesty's navy, pleasing the princess is one of my top priorities. I left her quiet upset last time we spoke. I don't intend to make that mistake again," he responded sincerely.

Emma pondered over his words for a minute before responding. "So, _you're_ back then, _my Killian_?" she asked cautiously, yet hopeful.

"Aye, I'm sorry I was such a bloody git. I've just spent my whole life admiring Liam and wanting to be a great naval officer; I behaved like an arse, and I almost lost you. Can you forgive me?"

Emma perked up at his confession, especially his apology. Killian Jones did not often admit to being wrong. "I don't know," she whispered huskily as she rose from her vanity and stepped closer to him, breathing in the smell of the sea he always seemed to carry, even if he hadn't been out at sea for days. "You'll have to find a way to make it up to me."

Killian furrowed his eyebrows and rubbed at his chin, clearly trying to come up with a way to win her over. _Flowers? A Sonnet? No, no sonnets. That would be bloody awful._ Before he could decide, Emma pulled him from this thoughts, quite literally.

Emma rolled her eyes and grabbed the collar of his uniform, not caring if she damaged it. She yanked him forward and pressed her lips against his in a fiery kiss. Killian froze at first in shock then pressed back, meeting her beat for beat. He brought his hand up to glide through her soft, golden hair. Gods he had forgotten how soft her hair was.

Emma pulled away from the kiss to catch her breath and looked up at him with a small smirk on her face.

"Blazes Emma, I wasn't expecting that," Killian said as he pressed his hand against his lips.

Emma's face fell instantly. "Oh, I'm sorry," she said nervously. Over their time apart, Emma had realized quite clearly that she had feelings for Killian that ran deeper than friendship. She assumed he felt the same, but that was foolish.

As if reading her mind, Killian jumped in. "No, I didn't mean it like that. I'm _pleasantly _surprised. I expected you to yell at me, not kiss me senseless."

Emma straightened up at his words, quite proud of herself. "Well sailor, I appreciate your dedication to our kingdom," she teased sarcastically.

Killian scratched behind his ear and took a deep breath before facing Emma again. "Listen, Emma, I was wondering, would you like to spend the day with me tomorrow, before the celebration feast and ball?"

"Of course. We use to always spend time together," Emma responded.

Killian shook his head nervously and gave her a small, unsure smile. "No, lass, that's not what I meant. I mean, well I, well I want to court you, formally," he spit out quickly. "Only if you'd like that, of course."

Emma's entire being was alight with excitement, but she forced herself to remain collected in front of Killian, if anything just because he was so endearingly sweet when he was nervous. "You know, you have to ask my father first," she responded with a mock stern voice, bringing her hand up to hide her sly smirk.

Instead of shuffling about more nervously, Killian matched her, straightening himself up and shooting her a cocky grin. "Aye, that I did, right when Liam and I made port. He gave me his blessing," Killian responded with a firm nod, clearly proud of himself.

Despite herself, Emma's face lit up with excitement. He had already asked her father. It was the first thing he'd done when he arrived back. Her entire heart raced as she swelled with happiness. "After breakfast, let's take a walk through the garden. I'll catch you up on all the court gossip."

"Aye, that sounds lovely, Emma," he said before stepping forward to press a chaste kiss against her forehead. He wound a stray curl around his finger before brushing it away and turning to descend from her window.

"I can't wait, _lieutenant_."

* * *

><p><strong>My first Lieutenant Duckling story! I hope you all enjoyed it. Please leave a review, and tell me what you thought!<strong>


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